71-hour Ahmed (called “72-hour Achmed” in The Art of Discworld and sometimes misspelled 71-hour Achmed) is the wali (closest analogy is head policeman) in Klatch, of D’reg origin. He was trained as an assassin in Ankh-Morpork where he was a member of Viper House and endeavors to be a little bit foreign wherever he goes, thus allowing him to perform his duties with less complication.

Custom and tradition play a vital role in Klatchian culture and it is said that even your worst enemy must be given hospitality for no less than three days in your home. When Ahmed was visited by a man who had murdered an entire town, he could not wait the full three days (which is seventy-two hours in total) to cut off his head, albeit for the justifiable reason that the other man would have certainly seized the opportunity to kill Ahmed once the time for hospitality to be shown had elapsed. This gross breach of etiquette has earned him his feared nickname.

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